Daily Derby Update: Friday, April 27, 2018

4/27/2018

2:39 pm EDT

AUDIBLE, MAGNUM MOON, NOBLE INDY, VINO ROSSO – Todd Pletcher put his four-horse Derby contingent through their final works over a fast track for next Saturday’s race in search of his third Kentucky Derby win.

First up was undefeated Magnum Moon. With Nick Bush aboard and working in company with Maraud, a graded-stakes winner of the grass, Magnum Moon worked a half-mile in :47.40, the fourth fastest of 75 at the distance.

Churchill Downs clockers caught Magnum Moon in splits of :12.40, :23.80, :36, :47.40 with a five-eighths gallop out in 1:00.40 and 1:13.80 for six furlongs.

“I’m lovin’ it, just like McDonald’s,” said Bush, who was the exercise rider for Derby winner Always Dreaming last year.

Next up was Audible with jockey Javier Castellano up. Audible covered a half-mile in :49.40 in company with National Flag, winner of the Bay Shore.\

Fractions on the move were :12.20, :24.20, :37.40, :49.40 and out five furlongs in 1:02 and three-quarters in 1:14.60. The half-mile was the 39th fastest of the morning.

Third in the order was Vino Rosso with jockey John Velazquez up. Working in company with the 4-year-old stakes winner Outplay, Vino Rosso worked a half-mile in :47.20, the fastest of 75 at the distance.

Fractions for the work were :11.40, :23.40, :35.40, :47.20 and out five furlongs in 1:00.40 and six furlongs in 1:13.40.

At 9 o’clock, Noble Indy worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 with jockey Florent Geroux aboard. Working in company with maiden winner Regal Quality, Noble Indy posted fractions of :13.20, :25.60, :37.40, :49.60, 1:01.60 and out six furlongs in 1:14.60. The five-eighths move was the 24th fastest of 43 at the distance.

“This was an important day and we got perfect conditions. All four handled the surface well,” Pletcher said. “Sometimes you come in and worry that they won’t like the track, but they all got over it well.

“Magnum Moon was very good and had good energy. He galloped out strong and I was very happy with him.

“Audible was very good. Javier was happy with him.

“Vino Rosso was good and Johnny was happy with him. All three of those were similar with Magnum Moon and Vino Rosso quicker and Audible a good gallop out.

“Noble Indy showed good energy and Florent got along well with him.”

Pletcher said the plan is for Geroux to ride Noble Indy in the Derby. Pletcher’s other jockey is Luis Saez for Magnum Moon.

Trainer Chad Brown was at Keeneland to oversee a work by Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Rushing Fall (:48.40 over a fast main track), probable for the Edgewood (G3) on Kentucky Oaks Day. He says Good Magic will breeze Saturday during the Derby training session and that he'll be on hand.

.HOFBURG – Hofburg galloped about 1 1/2 mile at 7:30 a.m., followed by a visit to the starting gate, according to Penny Gardiner, who has been his regular exercise rider since arriving at Churchill Downs on Tuesday.

Keen observers have noted an unusual piece of equipment that Hofburg has been sporting in the mornings, which Mott assistant Kenny McCarthy reports is an “iron halter.”

“Bill started using it on him because he was biting at the shank an awful lot,” McCarthy said. “It attaches above the nose and now he’s gotten out of the habit. It’s not severe at all, nothing goes in his mouth, it just sits on him. He seems to respect it more than the shank. The iron halter is fitted over the horse’s poll and over the nose, with a ring that allows a lead shank to attach on top of the nose instead of on the side.

“It’s usually only something you see from an old-school horseman,” McCarthy said. “I bet this one is at least 50 years of age. I’d bet he got this one from Van Berg. We’ve had it forever. You don’t see many of them around.”

Mott was an assistant to Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg in the late 1970s. Van Berg passed away in December at 81.

Hofburg is expected to work Sunday with Gardiner up. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the Derby mount.

Justify broke off at the five-eighths pole, where he started about three lengths behind stablemate Longden, a recent maiden winner owned by Godolphin. Van Dyke was content to lay off the work mate until they hit the one-sixteenth marker, five furlongs into the work, and then cruised up on the outside to cross the wire on even terms with Longden. From there, Justify accelerated into the clubhouse turn.

“We know we have a really good horse but there are a lot of good horses out there right now,” Baffert said Thursday on a NTRA National Media Teleconference. “It’s probably the most competitive Derby that I’ve seen in years.”

Baffert addressed the decision to have Justify’s final work in California instead of over the Churchill Downs surface.

“This track at Santa Anita is a very deep, demanding track and they get really fit here,” Baffert said. “We’ve shipped all over and I don’t think there’s a big difference. We used to go there a few weeks early but last year we went in the week before and won the Kentucky Oaks. I don’t think it makes a difference.”

Van Dyke was aboard Justify for his debut maiden win in February. Mike Smith, a Derby winner in 2005 aboard Giacomo, took over in his next start and has the Derby mount.

Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Solomini is expected to work Saturday or Sunday. Although he’s only credited with one win, the Curlin colt crossed the wire first in the Los Alamitos Futurity before being disqualified and has never missed the board racing against top-shelf company.

“The talent is there but he’s going to have to get some breaks go his way,” Baffert said. “He’s been training well, looks happy, came out of the last race well. He’s a little bit slower than some of the horses in there but they all deserve a chance. Crazy things happen in the Derby.”

LONE SAILOR – Lone Sailor completed his major preparations for the Kentucky Derby with a half-mile breeze in :48. With jockey James Graham in the saddle, Lone Sailor worked through splits of :11.80, :23.80 and :36.40 before a five-furlong gallop out in 1:00.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

“A lot of people get caught up in his fast workout times,” trainer Tom Amoss said. “That’s just who he is. He naturally works that fast so I’d be worried if he went slower. He will still need to improve. It’s a very deep field this year.”